Parks get new look

Posted: Friday, Jul 25th, 2014BY: Rockne Roll

Mike Passmore cleares out dirt from the hillside at Frank Wade Memorial Park to make room for the new seating installation Monday, July 21. Seats purchased from the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn. will be installed near the playing field, while the current steal bleachers will be relocated to the hillside.

If you’ve ever gone to a Minnesota Vikings or a Minnesota Twins game, two of Newport’s ballparks will soon have a familiar feel.

Work began this week to install new seating structures at Frank Wade Memorial Park and the Yaquina View Softball Complex, home of Newport High School’s varsity baseball and softball teams, respectively. The new seats, 200 of them, were previously installed at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.

Newport High baseball manager Ken Riley said he heard about the opportunity to acquire the seats late last year.